The protesting railway running staff have announced a strike from January 28, demanding payment of pension and gratuity by adding mileage.
Bangladesh Railway Running Staff and General Secretary of Sramik-Karmachari Union said this decision after the meeting with the Director General of Railways at Raj Bhavan in the capital on Monday (December 30). Mojibur Rahman.
He said, 'We have repeatedly written to the railway authorities to fulfill our demands. Even after so long they are not addressing our demands. They are repeatedly asking for time. We have fixed the time till 27th January after today's meeting. If they do not accept our demands within this period, then the strike will start from the morning of 28th.
Railway running staff includes—Locomaster (LM), Assistant Locomaster (ALM) and Sub-Locomaster (SLM).
Running staff have to work 15-18 hours on an average even though it is an 8 hour working day. For this they are given special financial benefits, which are called mileage in railway parlance. Mileage running is part of the salary of the staff. The calculation of mileage is that for every 100 kilometers of train running, the running staff will get an amount equal to one basic salary more. If one working day is 8 hours, the running staff's work is equivalent to two and a half or two to three months per month. Their salaries are paid in the same way. Apart from this, pension is given to them with an additional 75 percent more than the retirement allowance as the basic salary. But in January 2022, the finance ministry canceled the facility for running staff. Since then, Bangladesh Railway Running Staff Oikya Parishad has been continuously agitating.
Many running staff are leaving their jobs due to overtime. It was supposed to have 2,235 employees as running staff but now 1,135 are working. In this the running staff is not getting enough rest, so that the running staff themselves are expressing apprehension about the safe movement.
The crisis does not end there. The 300 people who joined the Railways as running staff after 2022 will not be given any facilities, it has been mentioned in the appointment letter. 158 running staff got angry with this. The crisis of running staff in the railway has become more pronounced, said Bangladesh Railway running staff and Dhaka divisional president of Sramik-Karmachari Union. Saidur Rahman.
Earlier too, the railway running staff observed a partial strike to demand mileage. This started the train schedule disaster, the passengers suffered. Railway authorities had to announce the suspension of several mail and commuter trains in the program of running staff in the current month of December. There is a fear that train movement may be stopped if the nationwide strike is started.
To find out about this, the Director General of Railways. Afzal Hossain refused to comment when contacted.
